HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 3,941 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,941 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in Alkermes by 301.5% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,699,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,961 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 365.5% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,640,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,939,000 after buying an additional 1,362,079 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 87.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,203,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 766.7% during the second quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,665,000 after acquiring an additional 575,000 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $29.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.45. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $32.88.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In related news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 10,471 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.53, for a total transaction of $309,208.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,930,498.14. The trade was a 9.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,738 shares of company stock worth $4,572,904. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALKS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.42.

Alkermes Company Profile

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders.